Onex books Q1 profit of $45M as revenue rises 13 per cent to $6.2B
TORONTO — Onex Corp. (TSX:OCX) booked a 13 per cent rise in first-quarter revenue to $6.23 billion but net earnings declined to $45 million, compared with $149 million in the year-ago quarter which included $116 million from discontinued operations.
The Toronto-headquartered international investment conglomerate said Thursday its operating earnings were $390 million in the January-March quarter, up by $5 million from a year earlier despite $80 million of non-cash charges related to the December acquisition of Husky Injection Molding.
Earnings from continuing operations were up 21 per cent to $40 million, the company said ahead of its annual meeting in Toronto. However net income per share was 36 cents, down from $1.16 a year earlier, when revenue was $5.52 billion.
Much of the revenue increase was attributed to takeovers, augmenting assets that range from movie theatres to aerospace manufacturing and American ambulance services.
Onex, with 184,000 employees at the end of 2006 and more than $23.5 billion in revenues in 2007, is one of Canada's largest companies.
Its operating units include the Celestica Inc. electronics manufacturer, the Cineplex Galaxy film theatre company, aircraft maker Hawker Beechcraft, aerospace parts company Spirit Aerosystems and U.S. ambulance operator Emergency Medical Services Inc.
"While the current credit environment has significantly slowed acquisition activity and made this a quiet quarter, we will continue to find appropriate acquisition opportunities," chairman and CEO Gerald Schwartz stated.
At the annual meeting, Schwartz told shareholders the trouble in global credit markets has made it more difficult to put together deals, raise money.
"Weakeness in the credit and equity markets also affects the near-term opportunities for realizing value from our private business and the quoted values of those companies that are public are reduced," he said.
But the company "will remain focused on the real source of value creation at Onex - working with our management teams to build their businesses."
"With active fundraising under way for three of our four fund groups, we expect 2008 to also be a year of significant growth in our alternative asset management business."
In another development, Onex declared a second quarter dividend of 2.75 cents a subordinate voting share, payable July 31.
On the TSX, Onex shares fell 22 cents Thursday to $32.40.
